Tag Archives: fabric

Nov 24 2013
rit dye

How to use RIT dye in the Sink

Posted on by
Follow Me on PinterestPin It

I have this shirt that I love the way it fits but I managed to get a stain on the sleeve. I have a couple of RIT dye just sitting in a drawer begging to be used. I decided to go with the wine color. It’s a pretty color for a button up shirt. I have to use the sink to dye because my apartment upright machines are plastic and I’m slightly terrified I’d stain them. My stainless steel kitchen sink works out perfectly, it won’t stain and I don’t have to be in the basement of my building.

Things I used:

  • Hair tie – always need to pull your hair back
  • Throw away clothes –  chore clothes, clothes you don’t care if they get stained
  • Towel – again one you don’t care if it gets dyed
  • Gloves
  • RIT dye
  • Clothes to dye
  • Something to stir the dye bath
  • Approximately 1 cup of salt
  • Measuring cup with something to stir that will get dye on it like stainless steel spoon

rit dye

Notes:

  • Wear gloves the entire time! Yes, they’re uncomfortable and probably don’t fit right but it’s better than stained hands.
  • I don’t care what the package says. I always do one packet of dye per article of clothing. I feel it gets the best color that way.
  • Put some music song to get you from getting bored while stirring the dye bath.

Directions:

  1. Put your gloves on and mix 2 cups hot water and one packet of dye.
  2. Put stopper in and fill sink with hot water so there’s enough water for the clothes to freely move around in the sink. Add the 1 cup of salt. I didn’t measure it, I just guessed.
  3. Add the dye to the sink and stir.
  4. Start your microwave or kitchen timer to 30 minutes. I actually did 20 minutes but you’re going to leave the clothe in the dye bath until the desired color is achieved.
  5. Add clothes, make sure it is completely soaked and start stirring. Stir the entire time.rit dye
  6. When time is up, let the water out (yay for gloved hands) of the sink and rinse the clothes. You want to rinse in warm water and gradually going to cold until the bleeding stops.
  7. Wash separately in warm water and dry as usual. Also, rinse and wash separately the towel used to clean up.
  8. Clean the counter and sink with bleach.
  9. Enjoy your newly dyed clothes!

rit dye

 

 

Jun 25 2013

Where to Buy Fabric Online

Posted on by
Follow Me on PinterestPin It

A lot of people don’t have access to great fabric stores in their areas and some, like me, are a bit lazy and prefer the comfort of their homes and computer screens to buy fabric. I have found a few online fabric stores to aid in your search for the perfect fabric. Granted you can’t touch the fabric and you have to wait for it to be shipped to you but I feel being able to find exactly what you want is worth the wait.

  1. Big Z Fabric has a something for everyone. It has your basics, as well as beaded fabric, faux leather, lace, velvet and upholstery fabric. It’s worth it to just browse to see what all it has to offer.
  2. Fabric.com has all of your basics. It also has great sales and a couple of free patterns.
  3. Fabric Exchange is another great place that has everything from cotton, fake fur, sequined fabric, taffeta and many more options. It’s an addicting fabric website to just look at. There are so many unique fabrics at the Fabric Exchange.
  4. Fabric Worm is great for children’s and quilting fabrics. It also has a few free patterns.
  5. Mood Fabrics has a little bit of everything. Part of my love for it stems from it being featured on Project Runway, I love that show!
  6. Purl Soho is another website that is fun to browse. It has fabric, notions, yarns and books. All seem to be unique and it even has kits to make a variety of projects.
  7. Spoon Flower is another fun online fabric store. It has a lot of unique patterns. It also sells wallpaper and wall decals. Another reason to love this store is because you can design your own fabric, wall paper, decals and wrapping paper! You just need to upload your file of the pattern you designed and they create it for you!
  8. Emma One Sock for fabric! It even lets you order swatches of material.
  9. Fabrics Fashion Club
  10. Trim Fabric for fabric and it has a great selection of trims and notions.
  11. M&J Trimming for all trims! Ribbons, rhinestones, lace, crystals, buttons and more!
  12. Mendel’s is where I purchased the faux fur for the lion’s mane costume.
May 15 2013

Knit Fabric Sewing Information

Posted on by
Follow Me on PinterestPin It

I usually sew cotton with my sewing machine. I have tried other types of fabric and one fabric that scares me to sew but would love to use is all knit fabric mainly jersey. I am always drawn to jersey in the fabric store but get frightened by the idea of sewing it. Since I am self-taught through instructional books and web searches, I’m not always sure how to complete a project. Prudent Baby website has a great tutorial about sewing jersey including pictures of what’s right and what’s wrong. It is definitely a reference I need to remember.

First thing I need to remember when sewing knit fabric is to have the right needle in my machine. My previous failed efforts, I think, have had a lot to do with the fact I left the universal needle in and it poked holes and pulled on the fabric. I also need to practice with the stretch stitch options on my machine.

Click here for the tutorial. It’s worth reading.

Apr 27 2013
bleach a shirt

How to Bleach a Shirt

Posted on by
Follow Me on PinterestPin It

I have this sweater style t-shirt that I accidentally got some bleach on. It’s disappointing but not surprising that I managed this. I didn’t want to go around with a dark brown shirt with a few random orange spots and I also didn’t want to throw the shirt away. So, I decided to bleach my shirt in trying to make the entire shirt orange.

bleach a shirt

This to ———->bleach a shirt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s what I did.

Materials:

  • bleach
  • water
  • shirt/item you want bleached
  • rubber gloves
  • clothing you’d be ok if bleach accidentally got on
  • hair tie, bobby pins to keep hair out of your face

Instructions:

  1. Make sure the item you want bleach is clean
  2. In a stainless steel sink or something white, I used a small white trash can, do a mixture of ¼ cup bleach to 2 quarts warm water, the warmer the water the more bleach the item will absorb. I also did this in my tub if some of the bleach water splashed around.
  3. Add your item and let it soak for about 20 minutes. I let it soak for 30 minutes because I went and watched TV while I waited and checked/stirred it on commercial breaks.
  4. In the tub or sink completely rinse out item and wash in your machine separately,  following tag instructions. 

Now I have a new shirt and I didn’t have to pay for it! I feel like the picture doesn’t do the pretty pumpkin shade of orange justice.

Feb 7 2013
dye fabric

How to Dye Fabric in the Sink using Dylon’s Dye

Posted on by
Follow Me on PinterestPin It

dye fabric

I am going to make another costume for Rusty, well at least attempt to make one. I really didn’t want to spend the money on expensive fabric because I’m going to make it up as I go, so I decided to buy muslin and dye it. I also decided to dye some of the embroidered fabric that I used for my tree skirt. I have a lot of that leftover and I was curious to see how it would take to dye.

I used Dylon Dye in Tulip Red because it is a permanent fabric dye and I wanted to try something new. The dying process took a little over an hour.

Here’s basically what the package says with my advice thrown in there:

Have a plastic bag open and ready for you to toss in the dye packet and gloves for when you’re finished to avoid the risk of staining other things around your kitchen like the floor or garbage can. 

dye fabric

supplies

1, 1.75oz, packet can be used for up to ½ lbs of fabric or one large t-shirt

Cover your counter around the sink with newspaper or rags if there is a spill or splash or you’re a klutz like me.

1. Weigh and wash fabric and leave it damp.

2. With gloved hands dissolve entire packet, use scissors to open to prevent the dye from flying everywhere, into 4 cups of warm water in a bowl or something you don’t mind getting stained

3. Fill a stainless steel sink, or bowl, with enough warm water to allow the fabric to flow freely give it space to dance

4.  Add 4 Tbsp of salt to the water and add the dye Yes that IS a lot of salt

5. Put that fabric in the sink

6. Stir constantly for 15 minutes. I made the mistake of not having any music on making the 15 minutes seem like an eternity. 

dye fabric

muslin after 15 minutes

dye fabric

embroidered fabric after 15 minutes

Then stir regularly for 45 minutes. Looking for a way to make your significant other or roommate nervous? Stir the dye bath with your dominant hand while texting with your non-dominant over  the sink. 🙂 Just don’t accidentally drop it in. 

7. Rinse fabric with cold water. Then wash it in warm water. To dry, line dry inside away from direct heat and sunlight. I laid mine flat on a towel that was darker than the dye and didn’t care about if the dye happened to stain it. Let it dry over night.

dye fabric

right after washing, still soaked

dye fabric

fabric after it dried

I’m kind of pleased how it turned out. I had no idea if the embroidered fabric would take dye, because I couldn’t remember the fiber content. As for the pattern piece, it’s a little more pink than I was hoping but part of that is my fault. I did have slightly more than ½ lb of fabric which was the greatest weight recommendation. My hopes were for a richer red. But I can make it work and I would use Dylon’s Dye again. I just need to buy 2 packets instead of one to be on the safe side.

dye fabric

color I got vs color I was hoping to get

Dec 27 2012

Fabric Information for Sewing

Posted on by
Follow Me on PinterestPin It

If you haven’t noticed, I’m not a professional sewer. I’m a self taught through books and google and make things up as I go. But  I have learned some things about the fabric I’ve worked with and I decided to share the fabric information.

Fabric                  Absorbency                  Dye-Ability                      Wrinkle Resistance
Cotton                      good                                good                                         no
Linen               very very good                     not good                                       no
Silk                      very good                         very good                                    good
Wool                       good                                 good                                        great
Polyester                 low                                   good                                        great
Rayon                     good                                 good                                        great
Nylon                       low                                   good                                     very good